1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic mail. More particularly, it relates to an efficient integration of multiple electronic mail accounts for viewing by the user from a single application.
2. Background of Related Art
At the current time, most email accounts are accessed via a wired device such as a personal computer (PC) based client, or via an HTML web page.
In today's world, as more and more people develop an on-line presence, people leverage the use of multiple electronic mail accounts. For instance, a particular user might have one electronic mail (email) account from their Internet Service Provider (ISP), another mail account with a web-page based source such as YAHOO or RAGINGBULL, and yet another mail account associated with their business.
Conventionally, a user must access each of these mail accounts using a separately configured mail program.
Using a wireless device, retrieval of email is substantially more limited. Some conventional applications offer ‘web-clipping’ as a means of retrieving email information and transmitting it to a wireless device. However, wireless devices typically utilize a proprietary application programming interfaces allowing retrieval of email from a single source, e.g., from their ISP, or in any event allow retrieval of mail from a single mail account.
There is a need for a technique and architecture which allows easier access to multiple mail accounts, even from a wireless device.